THE HISTORY OF TIJUANA 

The geographical space in which the city is located was part of the many sites that the native Kumiai would frequently visit according to their food and weather necessities.

Around the year 1829 in this same territory, which at the time was field with hills, canyons and a river called Tijuana, was given to the military and politician Californian citizen Santiago Argüello Moraga thru the political chief of the Department of the California's José Maria Echeandía, under the name of "Tía Juana".

In 1976 the VIII City Council designated July 11th 1889 to be the official date of that Tijuana was founded as a city.

The Beginning Of an Urban Establishment

At the beginning of the XX century, Tijuana was nothing but a small town of only 245 habitants. The only populated zone was the Downtown area and the main avenue, Olvera Street (today known as Revolution Avenue), which was filed with small business dedicated to tourism. In a relative small amount of time, Tijuana has grown so much since then, that it has become one of the most important and dynamic cities, not only in Mexico, but in the world as well. According to the last statistical data, the population is between 1.5 and 2.3 million. So, we consider that Tijuana is a land of progress, in which everyday hard work, responsibility and honesty from its citizens have contributed to make of this city a unique place in many ways.

The beginning of the urban establishment of the town of Zaragoza (Tijuana) was constituted in 1889, when the heirs of Santiago Argüello and Agustin Olvera, made an agreement which settled the bases for the development of the current population. Such act occurred on July 11th of that year, decades later, during the II Simposium of History in 1975, it was declared as the founding date of this young city. From its very beginning, Tijuana saw an opportunity in tourism, since the end of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th, there was a constant crossing of residents from California towards the south of the Peninsula for commercial purposes due to its local attributes.

The historical facts of 1911 against the pirate invasion and the defense of the national territory by the town's population gave life to the heroic Tijuana that only a few know. In 1916, the "San Diego, California Panama fair" attracted a great number of visitors; at the same time, Tijuana offered to the other side of the border the "Traditional Mexican Fair" that included: arts and crafts, regional cuisine, thermal water baths, horse racing and boxing matches. With this event, our city took of as a worldwide tourist point of interest.

Tijuana City Of Oportunities

The 20´s brought important events for Tijuana: The so called "Prohibition" that was the illegal sale, production, transportation, import and export of liquor in the United States, for which many Americans looked into our city for what was not allowed in their country. Little time after, gambling was authorized in Mexico, therefore important casinos opened in Mexican territory, among them Tijuana's "Agua Caliente Casino".

The international events of the 40's had serious consequences in the city, one hand, a great number of tourists from the United States visited Tijuana to attend the night clubs, on the other hand, the immigration of nationals that came from the south of Mexico, dramatically increased the Tijuana population from 21,971 citizens in 1940, to 63,364 in 1950.

From this date forward the night clubs started to decline and family tourism started to grow, this caused the tourism sector to restructure and offer various family activities to its visitors. In the last years, the city of Tijuana has turned into a demographic phenomenon due to its better living opportunities.

Estimating that the current population is of over 2.5 million citizens, in which there is a wide student population in more than 25 universities and institutions. There is as well as a great concentration of assembly plants that makes Tijuana one of the main television assembly cities in the world and the fourth place in population, after Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey.

***All information listed has been provided by The Tijuana Tourism Board***